Matsukaze wa itsumo tokiwa ni mi ni shimedo wakite sabishiki yūgure no sora

松風はいつも常磐に身にしめど
わきて寂しき夕暮の空

Roma-ji: Matsukaze wa itsumo tokiwa ni mi ni shimedo wakite sabishiki yūgure no sora
English Translation: The wind in the pines,
ever-constant as their green,
always pierces me—
but loneliest of all
is the sky at evening's fall.
Meaning: The wind in the pines always sinks into me, unchanging as their evergreen; yet what is loneliest of all is the evening sky.
Commentary: Miscellaneous Poems 1090

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown"
The wind in the pines always sinks into one, never changing, yet it is the evening sky that is loneliest of all, the poet says, setting the constancy of the evergreen pine against a loneliness that deepens with the hour.
Following the two preceding poems on the sorrow and the clarity brought by the wind, this one ties the pine wind to the loneliness of dusk, the three untitled poems forming a sequence around the wind. Tokiwa joins the evergreen of the pine with the sense of "always the same."

First line, “matsukaze wa”: the wind in the pine boughs.
Second line, “itsumo tokiwa ni”: tokiwa is unchanging, also associated with the evergreen pine.
Third line, “mi ni shimedo”: do is concessive, "though it sinks in."
Fourth line, “wakite sabishiki”: wakite means "especially."
Fifth line, “yūgure no sora”: ending on a noun, the hour when loneliness peaks lingers.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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